U.S. on Javelins in eastern Ukraine: They are entirely defensive in nature

Chargé d'Affaires Courtney Austrian said this at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

In his speech, Russia's Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich traditionally accused Ukraine of violating the Minsk agreements and of Kyiv's desire to resolve the conflict by force with the support of Western partners. At the same time, he began to talk about the "U.S. contribution to the militarization of Ukraine" and pointed to footage released by the ABC television company from the outskirts of Avdiivka, which shows the Ukrainian military equipped with American Javelin anti-tank missile systems. The Russian ambassador expressed indignation over the appearance of these anti-tank missile systems in eastern Ukraine.

In her response, Austrian first reminded Lukashevich that Russia is the only perpetrator of the conflict in eastern Ukraine and that all accusations against Ukraine of being the aggressor are groundless. "Russia can accuse Ukraine of being the aggressor and it can accuse the United States of helping as much as it likes, but the reality is that Russia is the only perpetrator of this conflict," Austrian said, adding that U.S. concerns about Russian military activity along the Ukrainian border and Russian intentions are extremely well-founded.

She reminded the Russian diplomat that "Ukraine has a right to sovereignty and territorial integrity." "It [Ukraine] also has a right to self-defense and I remind this Permanent Council that Javelins are entirely defensive in nature," Austrian said.

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